This relates in general to an overall system including an electromechanical control mechanism for guiding and controlling the tension and position of a web which is paid out from a motor-driven supply roller and passes over a series of idler rollers to a motor driven rewind drum. Alternatively, a clutch may be substituted for the motor at the supply drum.
The problem with web guidance systems of the prior art is that in the course of traversing a plurality of rollers, the tension of the web may become too great, causing the web to break, or the web may become too slack causing it to become tangled, or not to move along at a regular rate. Furthermore, the moving web may tend to get out of alignment moving to one side or the other, thereby becoming tangled and interrupting its flow through the system, and actually causing the system to jam.